Chinese retailer Fraspens plans £40m Aim float July 21, 2014 ONE OF China’s largest outdoor clothing brands, whose board members include former Sportingbet chief Nigel Payne, has announced plans today for a £40m float on London’s junior market. Fraspens, based in Quanzhou, south east China, makes outdoor clothing, footwear and accessories sold in 580 outlets across China. The company is China’s third largest local outdoor [...]
Alibaba sets its sights on September to launch $200bn float July 17, 2014 CHINESE web giant Alibaba will reportedly begin its investor roadshow in September just ahead of a New York listing that could value the firm at $200bn (£117bn). Alibaba is looking to raise around $20bn from public markets this year, a fundraising which would rival the Agricultural Bank of China’s $22.1bn float in 2010 as the [...]
Inside Track: Under fire Glaxo should get a grip July 16, 2014 SIR Andrew Witty has been keeping his head down in recent weeks, as GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) seeks a cure for what ails it in China. It hasn’t been difficult to see GSK’s bunker mentality in evidence: at Wimbledon, its hospitality marquee was shorn of corporate branding, a flaccid attempt to disguise a legitimate business activity. If [...]
General Motors sales drive company to best second quarter performance since 2005 July 16, 2014 The General Motors (GM) engine has started up again, as the auto manufacturer is back to delivering stronger sales performances. In the second quarter of this year GM saw 2,505,889 vehicles drive off forecourts around the world, up seven per cent in the US and eight per cent in the Chinese market. Sales have moved [...]
Yahoo hurt again by plunging online advert sales and prices July 16, 2014 Struggling internet titan Yahoo took another blow yesterday, reporting a three per cent fall in revenues, driven by a slump in adverts. The price of adverts has dived 24 per cent, contributing to a fall in overall revenues to $1bn (£583m), down three per cent on the year. To compensate for the poor performance the [...]
Chinese Hony Capital eats up Pizza Express July 14, 2014 PIZZA Express became the latest UK brand to be snapped up by a Chinese buyer after it was announced that the restaurant chain would be sold to Chinese private equity firm Hony Capital for around £900m. The sale of Pizza Express is part of a recent trend that has seen Chinese buyers take ownership of [...]
Samsung set for worst results in two years as it predicts 25pc profit drop July 8, 2014 Samsung Electronics revealed today that it forecasts weak quarterly earnings, resulting in what would be its worst results in two years. This has cast doubt on the smartphone producer's ability to compete with cheaper Chinese rivals. The South Korean company has suffered at the hands of the recent slowdown in growth of the smartphone [...]
Germany’s Angela Merkel sends strong warning to US over spy claims July 7, 2014 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken for the first time about an alleged double agent in the German intelligence community, claiming if true it would be “a clear contradiction of what I consider to be trusting co-operation” with the US. Speaking during a trade visit to China, her seventh since taking office in 2005, Merkel [...]
Wall St The Week Ahead: All eyes on Fed minutes for rate hike info July 6, 2014 WITH US stocks hitting record highs just before the Independence Day break last week on the back of strong jobs growth, the Bank for International Settlements – the global forum for central banks – said that markets were in a “euphoric” state and that keeping interest rates too low for too long could sow the [...]
Mercedes-Benz on track for a record year in sales July 4, 2014 German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz is racing towards another record year, as it posted its strongest ever half-year sales. The automotive company's sales in the first six months of the year jumped by 12.8 per cent as it sold a total of 783,520 vehicles worldwide. “The first half of the year was extremely successful for us. [...]